The Strauss family came to Canmore in the late 1920’s. My grandfather, William Andrew Strauss, had a job mining coal in the mine. He moved his family to Canmore. First my two aunts came in 1930, and then my dad and uncle came in 1931. William’s children were Uncle Ben, my dad, John, Aunt Helen, Aunt Ann and Uncle Bill. Uncle Bill was raised by his Aunt Anna in Nelson, B.C. because when Uncle Bill was born, their mother died. She is buried in Nordegg.
The Strauss family lived in Prospect in a big two-storey duplex-style house. There is a picture of this house in Petrigo’s Alberta Book. Of course, the house had windows, curtains and doors when the family lived there.
Uncle Ben married Margaret Duma. They farmed in Priddis and had one child, Michael. My aunt and uncle moved to Midnapore and then Vulcan, where my uncle died. My aunt then moved to Westlock, where she died. My cousin, Michael, is living at Cherhill presently.
My dad, John, went to work in the Canmore Coal Mines in about 1934 or 1935. He loaded coal from the tipple into boxcars, and this coal was sent wherever there was a coal contract. My dad was in the Reserve during the war. They needed the coal miners, but the men still had to be trained. My dad married (Lillian) Ireen Olson from Banff on October 10, 1942 and she moved into the Strauss family home. I, Marie Irene, was the first and only girl, born in 1943, followed by three brothers: Brian Edwin, 1946; Garry Wayne, 1950; and James William, 1957.
Aunty Helen married Olaf Randen from Norway and they had four children: Orville, Ronald, Loretta, and Violet (born in 1943). They lived in Canmore for a few years, and the kids went to school. Aunt Helen and Uncle Ollie moved around a lot. Uncle Ollie died in Calgary and eventually Aunt Helen married Jack Rutledge. He died in Brooks. My aunt now lives in Drumheller with her daughter, Loretta, and close to her son, Ron.
Aunty Anne married the boy next door, Tom Lytkowski, and they actually did live in the same house: the Strauss family on the west side, and the Lytkowski family on the east side. When they married, Uncle Tom moved into the Strauss home and lived there until my uncle got his own house two doors to the west. They had one child, a daughter, Colleen Joy, in 1950. Uncle Tom died in Calgary, but his ashes are in the Canmore Cemetery. My Aunt Ann lives in Calgary, as does Colleen.
Uncle Tom and my dad grew up together and built slab shacks, and cabin in the bush called “Bing’s”, as that was Uncle Tom’s nickname. Everyone in Canmore had nicknames; my dad was Stooch, as were all my brothers. However, Brian was also called Brizz, or presently, Grizz. Garry was called Doc; Jim is called Stooch. I won’t mention my nickname because I hope everyone has forgotten it.
My Grandfather Strauss taught violin lessons, and he also played the zither. I remember listening to Grandpa play. He had old, tired, calloused coal miner’s hands, but he could play the zither and it sounded like angels were playing. I wish tape recorders had been invented then, or that we had had the money to buy one and tape his music. He moved uptown to a small house near the Union Hall. His neighbours were Doc Denton, Bill Fowers, and across the street, Mr. & Mrs. Ashley, Alberta McAffer ‘sparents. My grandfather’s stepfather, Frederick Nacktman, moved in with him when he couldn’t take care of himself. Grandpa Nacktman is buried in the Canmore Cemetery beside my grandfather.
I loved going to my Grandpa Strauss’s house. It was so clean and warm and always smelled good. My grandfather married Maria who was from Germany. She cooked a lot with yeast, and my grandfather had a very sweet tooth, so Marie always had some sweet goodies for us to eat. I wish I had been old enough to watch and remember some of her recipes. I dream of her plum dumplings and plum cake with sweet crumbly topping. Grandpa always had candies and he didn’t care if you took one or three, as long as you ate them. He also kept a bottle of Orange Pop under his bed. I can’t tell you how much we kids enjoyed warm Orange Pop – it was delicious.
Growing up in Canmore was great. In the summer a gang of us kids, boys and girls, met in the morning, and we were gone. We roamed the bush for hours, played Cowboys and Indians, went to Bing’s cabin, or walked to the spring, (which is no longer there as someone has built a house on top of it). We threw rocks down the air tunnels (it is a wonder none of us ever fell down one of those holes – we went to see them all). We even went to the mine and visited the horses. These were the big heavy working horses. We also visited where the Chinese men lived. They had very nice gardens and I can remember Lee Gunn selling vegetables in the summer. My aunt noticed the top of the cauliflower was black with coal dust, but we kids didn’t notice that. We noticed the yoke he used to fit across his shoulders to carry two bushel baskets. My dad and Aunty Ann always told us about the candied ginger the Chinese men gave the kids at Christmas. I always put a package of candied ginger in with my Dad’s Christmas gift.
I don’t think any parent was worried about their kids getting lost or abducted as this just never happened. I can honestly say I never met a bear in the bush while living in Canmore. (Oh, yes I did – twice, but that was in the ’90’s.) I think with all of us kids running wild in the bush, mother bears warned their cubs to stay away from us “wild humans! ”
In the winter, we slid down Strauss’s Hill in cardboard boxes. We all fought over the waxed boxes as they were the best because they went really fast. Can you tell me what family has a big hill named after them? I wonder if the people who live in that area even know about Strauss’s Hill, and how many kids were kept entertained on it.
My dad was into skiing so he built a ski jump and would go down the hill and jump for hours making the hill higher as the winter went on. He and his friends: Johnny Niemi, Tony Kamenka, Nick Fiwchuk, Johnny Byers, Bert Wilson, Frank Kubista, Tom Lytkowski, and lots I have forgotten, used to ski from Canmore, up into Spray, down the Goat Creek to Banff. Or they skied to Dead Man’s Flats along the mine roads, as the TransCanada Highway wasn’t built as yet. Once they somehow ended up in the Kananaskis,where they got trapped because of a blizzard and had to hole up in the ranger’s cabin for a few days until the storm let up.
I remember my dad telling us about the forest fire in Kananaskis (in the area where Eau Claire Campground is – walk along the Interpretive Trail and read all about the big fire) that most of the young men from Canmore had to fight. He said one person had a bag with some dynamite in it, but as the fire turned, they all dropped their packs and ran like hell. Some days later when everything had cooled down, and the fire was under control, they went back for their packs, and everything was burned except the pack with the dynamite in it.
My dad was a wonderful storyteller and, as kids, we sat around our kitchen table drinking TEA, and my dad would tell stories of when he was a boy. Or some kids would come over and we would play Rummy or Monopoly for hours.
In 1965 my dad had a very bad accident at work. How he lived, none of us know. He was in the Calgary General Hospital for months and was recorded in a book as a ‘wonderman’ because the staff didn’t think he would survive. However, he had other plans. He did recover, returned to work and then retired and moved to Salmon Arm where he lived for about ten or twelve years more. He moved back to Canmore to be closer to his family. He lived in the Seniors Lodge until his health failed and then moved to the Dr. Vernon Fanning Centre in Calgary. He died in Calgary, August 4, 1996, and is buried in the Canmore Cemetery along with a stillborn son. My mother is in the Fanning Centre as she has Alzheimer’s.
My brothers and I went to school in Canmore. I married Dick (Richard) Leong and we have three children: Sheila Marie, 1958; Richard John, 1964; and Sheryl Ellen, 1970. Sheila married Jeff Foster of Calgary and they have two sons; Jason, born in Calgary in 1987; David, born in Canmore in 1989. Richard has a daughter, Savannah Marie, who was born in Calgary in 1997. Sheryl is in Calgary with her boyfriend, Jeff, and they do not have family.
Dick came to Canmore in 1949. His parents had a restaurant business, Leong’s Cafe, and they also had cabins on the TransCanada Highway. After we were married, Dick and I raised our family in Canmore. Sheila went to swimming; Richard played hockey, and Sheryl was in gymnastics. This kept us both involved in the community. Dick liked to hunt and fish. Marie did a bit of everything. Never a dull moment.
Dick retired from Parks Canada and Marie works at the Travel Alberta Information Centre in Canmore.
In Canmore Seniors at the Summit, ed. Canmore Seniors Association, 2000, p. 283-285.
